Tough minutes for Curry in Duke win

DURHAM – Duke’s Seth Curry made it up and down the court, and that alone was an accomplishment for the senior guard Thursday night.

Now there will be quite a bit more for Curry to do to get up to speed in the next week.

Hobbled by pain in his right shin, Curry was out of sync at times in a 69-45 exhibition victory against Division II Winston-Salem State at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

“Happy to get out there,” he said. “The first time I’ve played 5-on-5 in about a month and a half.”

It showed as Curry shot 1-for-9 from the field (0-for-4 on 3-pointers).

Coach Mike Krzyzewski said it was Curry’s first significant action since Sept. 10.

“It’s more for him to just get minutes,” Krzyzewski said. “I’m not worried about him (from a playing standpoint). … I’m concerned about how he’ll be afterward. I’m not surprised he didn’t come and blister the nets.”

Curry said the pains began in the summer.

“I just didn’t have my rhythm,” he said. “It shouldn’t be long. I should be able to get more practices in. I didn’t want my first actual game to be the way I played (in this outing).”

Mason Plumlee’s 19 points on 7-for-7 shooting from the field paced Duke, which opens the season a week from tonight against visiting Georgia State. By then, the Blue Devils hope Curry will be closer to rounding into form.

“That’s his first day back,” Plumlee said after the exhibition. “That’s not an easy thing for him to do. He’s only going to get better.”

Curry, who started all except two games last season, entered the game less than four minutes after tip-off. He missed his five first-half shots and didn’t connect from the field until a layup with 6:14 to play.

“It’s good to get out there and play with my teammates and get competitive,” Curry said.

Krzyzewski attributed some of Duke’s disjoined offensive play to Curry’s absence from the rotation in practices.

“If Curry is there and you start three seniors, everything is going to look a lot better,” Krzyzewski said.